School Closures

Email the School Closures Committee by September 16th at VUSDSchoolsCommittee@venturausd.org

Email Template:

Dear School Closures Advisory Committee Members,

I am writing as a [parent/guardian/staff member/alumnus/community member] to ask that Poinsettia Elementary not be recommended for closure.

Poinsettia is a strong and vibrant school community. The School Closures Committee’s own data shows that Poinsettia attracts more students transferring in than out, has strong academic performance, and provides important programs and supports for its students. Beyond the data, Poinsettia is a community built on relationships among students, families, teachers, staff, and neighbors. The strength of these relationships, and its benefit to our students, cannot be fully captured in a data review.

[Consider adding a personal story about what Poinsettia has meant to your child or family, or something you believe makes the school community unique.]

I encourage the Committee to look at Poinsettia’s strengths and available space as an opportunity. Rather than closing a school that families are actively choosing, we should be looking at ways to bring more students and families into the Poinsettia community.

Thank you for considering the voices of the families and community members who care deeply about Poinsettia and its future.

Respectfully,
[Name]

PTO Letter to Board Members, District Leadership and School Closures Committee urging to KEEP POINSETTIA OPEN

Dear VUSD Board Members and District Leadership:

On behalf of the Poinsettia Elementary PTO, we respectfully and strongly urge the district to remove Poinsettia from any list of schools being considered for closure.

Poinsettia is much more than a school site. It is a thriving neighborhood school that has been serving the community for nearly 70 years. Making the choice to keep Poinsettia open means choosing to support a highly-ranked and demographically diverse school with an engaged parent-teacher community. Poinsettia's emphasis on strong academic achievement, award-winning focus on wellness, and robust autism program serving 45+ students (12% of our population) set it apart as a school, and we are proud to support it as the PTO Board.

As per the results in the 2025 California School Dashboard, Poinsettia earned the highest performance level, “Blue,” in both English Language Arts and Mathematics, and ranked first among VUSD elementary schools in year-over-year improvement in both subjects. This success extends to student groups whose outcomes are particularly important to educational equity. Poinsettia’s socioeconomically disadvantaged students (38% of our population) ranked first among VUSD elementary schools in ELA performance and first in improvement in both ELA and math, with similarly strong trends among Poinsettia’s Hispanic/Latino students. Our commitment to the whole child was also recognized nationally this year when Poinsettia was named one of America’s Healthiest Schools, an award recognizing schools for their work supporting the physical, mental, and social-emotional health of students and staff.

We believe these results reflect a culture of community investment that is producing measurable results which cannot simply be recreated elsewhere. Our teachers and staff are at the heart of that success, supported by a community where families contribute what they can for the benefit of all students. In many ways, this is the quintessential public school model, where families with diverse backgrounds and resources invest together in a shared institution so that every child benefits. 

Rather than dismantling a school community that is demonstrating this level of success, we urge the District to build upon Poinsettia’s strengths and its capacity to welcome additional students and families. We respectfully ask the School Closures Advisory Committee, District leadership and Board of Education to consider the full value of what has been built at our school and remove Poinsettia Elementary from consideration for closure.

Sincerely,

Poinsettia Elementary PTO

Brinda Shah - PTO President and proud mom of a Poinsettia 2nd and 5th grader

Sarah McCreary - PTO Vice President and proud mom of a Poinsettia Kinder and 3rd grader

Jess Toren - PTO Secretary and proud mom of a Poinsettia 1st and 5th grader

Ashley Reineman - PTO Treasurer and proud mom of a Poinsettia 1st and 4th grader